Ordnance



F. W. S. STOKES.

ORDNANCE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 4, 1918. 1,334, 11 4. Patented Mar. 23, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

F. w s. STOKES.

ORDNANCE. APPLICATION FILED J UNE 4,1918.

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- on block which UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE}.

FREDERICK WILFRID SCOTT STOKES, OF WESTMINSTER, LONDON, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR TO WILLIAM S. PEIRCE, TRUSTEE, ACTING CHIEF ARMY.

OF ORDNANCE, UNITED STATES onnmmcn.

Original applications filed May 13, 1916, Serial Nos. 97,388 and 97,389. June 4, 1918. Serial No. 238,194.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK W. S. STOKES,'a Sl1b] eCt of the King of England, and residing at 32 Victoria street, Vestminster, London, S. VV., England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ordnance, of wh ch the-following is a specification.

This lnvention relates to ordnance, more particularly to guns of the howitzer type,

such as trench mortars, and to a projectile and cartridge peculiarly adapted to cooperate with the gun so that the gun will be self-clearing, each cartridge case being- 5 carried ofi' with its projectile. The. gun,

therefore, requires no breeching mechanism and may be operated With great rapidity.

This application is a division of my pendin applications, Serial Numbers 97,388 and 97,389, filed May 13, 1916. In the first mentioned application I have fully described and illustrated a gun embodying the principles of the present invention, and in the second application there is described and illustrated a projectile adapted I to cooperate with the 55 ,proved gun and support set up ready for use'- I Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same; Fig. 3 is a longitudinal. sectional elevation of the n partly broken away and on an enlarge scale; 1

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of one form of projectile adapted for use in the improved F 5 isa bottom plan view of the projectile s own in Fig. 4; and

view of the lower or closed end ofthe gun and a projectile, such Fig. 6 is a sectional as shown in Fig. 4, in the position in wh ch it 'is located at the instant of firing, the

cartridge within the projectile and the plug supports the cartridge at the" moment of firing being shown-in side elevation.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Divided and this application filed Referring to Figs. 1, 2 and 3 the gun comprises a barrel A conveniently formed of a solid drawn steel tube having its rear end reduced in some convenient manner as at A,

Patented Mar. 23, 1920.

the reduced portion being externally screwthreaded. On to this reduced end'is screwed a cap B provided with a spherical or otherwise suitably shaped head B and having formed or mounted on it a cylindrical plug or block C so that this plug projects through I the reduced end A of the barrel into the breech chamber A. The end of the block C is flat or slightly convex and carries centrally disposed therein a small pointed projection C which constitutes a striker. At a suitable point in the length of the barrel A is a hole through which projects into the bore a pin D which is so carried by a sleeve E that it can slide freely therein and constitute a removable catch adapted to holdthe projectile when inserted in the muzzle. Pivoted at D to the outer end of the pm D is a two-armed lever one arm F of WhlCl'l.

" is so formed as to permit of having attached' thereto a cord or the like, while the other arm F is so disposed and shaped that when the lever is turned about its pivot D the part F, will bear against the end of the sleeve E and retain the pin D in its withdrawn position so that its inner end does not project into the bore of the gun. The inner end of the pin D is conveniently'formed slightly larger than the outer end so that, by abutting against a shoulder. formed within the sleeve E, the complete withdrawal of the pin- -D is preven d.

' A metal plate G of suitable dimensions, flanged or otherwise shaped as to its underside so as to obtain a hold on the ground, has formed in it a series of depressions G each adapted to receive the head B of the breech cap B. 4

To the fore end of the is attached a support in the, form of legs whose length canbe varied. A convenient construction of these legs is shown in Figs. 1 and 2. A collar H fixed in some suitable manner around the fore end of the gun is provided with two lugs H. to each of which is pivoted a suitable. length of. rod -J whose end is threaded 1 with a left hand screw-thread. -Another lengthof rod J A larly threaded but with a right hand thread has one end simision G V tion-is attained by rotatin the turn buckle and the two ends of these rods J and J engage the correspondingly screwthreaded ends of a turn buckle J I Loosely mounted on the other end of the rod J is a late J f" flanged as at J or otherwise forme on its underside so as to take a hold on the ground.

The gun is setup in themanner shown in Figs. Land 2 with the plate G embedded in the ground and the breech of the gun resting thereon with the head B of the breech cap engaging one of the depressions G. The fore end of the gun barrel A is supported by the legs J J the plates J 3 on the end of which are embedded in the ground. The gun can now be trained in the required direction traversing bein e-f-.

fected by moving the breech to one si e or the other, so that the end engages a depresin the plate G. The desired eleva- J 2 and so varying the lengt of the legs supporting the fore end. Suitable adjustment of the length of these legs also has a travers- It will be noted that the gun is set 'up with the barrel forming a considerable angle to the horizontal. he pin D is now pushed in so that its'end projects into bore of the gun into the breech and dot-- onates the cartridge on the striker C. '45

the'bore of the gunand a projectile K is inserted in the muzzle bein retained there by the base of, the projecti e resting on the pin D. This projectile carries at its rear end a cartridge provided with a percussion cap and the projectile itself is bf sudh dimensions with relation to the bore of the gun that a certain amount of windage is allowed in order to permit the projectile to slide freely down the bore. is to be fired the pin D is withdrawn by pulling the cord attached to the lever F, the ull bein maintained until the projectile as, left t e gun; As soon as the pin D is withdrawn the projectileslides-down the In some cases. t e catch or the like-above described as'being disposed in the barrel of I the gun for the purpose of holding the proandwil-l fall into of the ject until it is to be'fired, may be entirely dispensed with or some equivalent device combined with the projectile. Thus for in-' of the gun the proe hand in the muzzle until it is desired to fire the gun when the projectile is released and allowed to fall into the breech. Yet again, by. drillin a small hole at a sultable point in the wa of the projectile. and inserting a pin therein,

the projectile will be retained in the muzzle n as by the above described catch. When t e pin is withdrawn by pulling a cord or otherwise, the projectile is released the breech and be discharged.

Owing to the manner in which the striker Q'T'iEmounted on the-b10015 C which prothe. gun inasmuch When the gun-- jects into the breech chamber A there is provided around the striker a space in which the gases resulting from the ex losion of the propellant charge can expan sufiiciently to reduce the maximum burst pressure on the walls of the gun while, however, allowing them to develop the necessary propellant force. The dimensions of this space for the expansion of the gases is further increased by reason of the cartridge carrying the propellant charge being of less diameter than the projectile and carried in a chamber formedor mounted on the rear end of the projectile. The position' of the projectile at the moment of discharge after it has descended into the be noted that though this striker block is removable and adjustable in the manner described yet in effect this block together with the cap constitute a %fixed breech block for as the gun is loaded through the muzzle.

The layin of the'gun as to its elevation" breech of the gun is indicated inv dotted lines in Fig. 1 the expansion space in the is conveniently formed in the is facilitate by provlding a device such as shown in Fig 1. .This comprisesa quadrantal plate Li mounted in some suitable manner on .the'upper side of the barrel so as to project radially from the axis thereof.

Pivoted to this late is a lever M which carries a spirit evel and has its free end forked so that a portion of the'lever lies on either side' of the quadrant portion of the plate M. This quadrant is graduated,

0110119 side with a scale of ran e distances and on the other side is provi ed with a time scale corresponding to these distances. When the gun is to be trainedthe lever M is raised until its end cuts the scale at the point corresponding to the distance to which it is desired the projectile should be thrown or atthe figure corres onding to the desired time offlight. The e evation of the gun is now varied until the lever M is level.

In order to permit of a perisoope being mounted on themgun there is formed in thebase of the qu rantal plate M a hole or socket Minto which can be inserted a rod or pin pivotally mounted on the lower end of the periscope. In this way the penscope can be readily andtruly fixed in position ing head K having a central opening in the head adapted to be closed by a plug K The shell may be charged with a suitable explosive through the opening and securely closed by means of a plug or other suitable device. Any suitable device -may be employed for firing the explosive charge. As shown in the drawings there is formed in the base K an annular recess K* from whicha passage K leads into the interior of the shell. In the recess K is placed a length of fuse K with one end at the passage K so that there is formed an annulus of fuse material which when ignited at any point in the circle will burn at a known rate and in due course either ignite a 'detonator disposed in the shell or directly/explode the charge within the shell. The annulus of fuse material is covered by a rotatable time disk 0 which is held in place by the tubular cartridge holder P, the forward end of which is reduced and threaded into the base as at P The threaded extension of the cartridge holder passes through a central opening in the disk 0. and will secure the disk in any desired position. The hole 0' in the disk registers with the groove K and admits flame to ignite the fuse when. the projectile is fired. The periphery of the disk may be graduated so that it can be rotated to set the hole 0' in any desired relation to the opening K. The time between the firing and the explosion of the projectile may be thus determined. The hole 0' may be provided with a removable cover which is adapted to be torn away or perforated when the shell is about to be used.

The tubular cartridge 'chamb er P is provided with lateral openings P to permit the explosion gases from the cartridge R to escape into the space within the gun in rear -of' the projectile and expand therein. The

cartridge R is similar in appearance to a .shot gun cartridge being provided with a central primer or cap R adapted to be detonated' by firing pin C on plug C. It willbe understood that many forms of projectile may be adapted to be fired by the means and from the gun herein described, and that theprojectile shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 6 is simply adopted for purposes of illustration. The operation of the gun is illustrated in Fig. '6. This figure isan enlargement of a part of Fig. 2 in section showing a projectile in the breech end of the gun and in the position it occupies at the instant of firing. The inventlon 1s particularly applicable to smooth bore guns and the projectiles are made with a slight clearance so that they will readily slide through the barrel of the gun when inserted at the muzzle.

Thecylindrical block C preferably projects into the gun and is of substantially the diameter of the cartridge R, or slightly larger. At the instant of impact the firing pin or point Cv strikes and detonates the primer R exploding the charge in the cartridge. At this instant the cartridge is supported by the block (3 and its head cannot blow off. The ases are blown out through the openings in the cartridge chamber, and the pressure within the' cartridge case causes it to be gripped tightly by the cartridge chamber. The gases expand in the breech chamber O and force the projectile out of the gun, the projectile carrving the cartridge case with it and leaving t 1e gun free for the insertion of the next projectile. As there is no breech to open and close and the gun is self-clearing, it may be fired very rapidly. In some cases the movable support D may be dispensed with and the projectiles dropped directly into the gun which facilitates rapidity in firing.

It will be noted that there a peculiar interdependence in functioning between the projectile, the cartridge, and the gun. The

support or block C prevents the head from being blown off the cartridge and sustains the cartridge in position within the cartridge chamber while the gases generated within it are blown through the lateral openings into the breech chamber-O The cartridge also cooperates with the cartridge the breech end and is instantly projected from the muzzle.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

- 1. In combinatlon with a gun having a firing pin, a projectile having a chamber at,

its rear end adapted to receive a cartridge to be fired by said firing pin, said cartridge chamber having lateral openings for the es cape of gases into the breechof the gun in rear of the projectile.

2. In combination with a gun having a firing pin and a support for a cartridge surrounding the firing pin, a projectile having at its rear end a cartridge chamber, and a; cartridge adapted to said chamber and having a primer arranged to contact with the firlng pin when the projectile is dropped into the gun.

3. In combination with a muzzle-loading smooth-bore gun having a firing pin at its breech end, a projectile having a cartridge chamber at its rear end adapted-to hold the cartridge with itsprimer in position to contact with the firing pin when the projectile is dropped into the gun.

4:. In combination with a smooth-bore muzzle-loading gun having a block centrally arranged at its breech end adapted to support the head of a cartridge, and a firing pin on said block adapted to detonate the cartridge, a projectile having at its base an axial cartridge chamber to receive a cartridge, said chamber having lateral openings for the escape of gases.

5. In combination with a smooth-bore muzzle-loading gun having a .block centrally arranged at its breech end. adaptedto support the head ofa cartridge, and a firing pin on said block adapted to detonate the cartridge, a projectile having at its base an axial cartridge chamber to receive a cartridge, said chamber having lateral openings of gases, and a cartridge.

for the esca adapted to sald chamber having a detonator arranged to contact with the firing pin. 7

6. In combination with 'a smooth-bore muzzle-loading gunhaving a closed breech,

a firing pin axially arranged in the breech and a support for a cartrldge surrounding the firing pin, a projectile having at rear end a tubular cartridge chamber of substantially less diameter than the projectile, said chamber having lateral openings for the escape of gases, and a cartridge in said chamber adapted to be detonated by the firing in, the support surrounding the firing pin eing arranged to prevent the cartridge case from blowing rearward out of its chamber, whereby the cartridge case is carried off by the projectile.

In combination with a smooth-bore muzzle-loading gun having a centrally arranged firing-pm and support for a cartridge, a projectile having a centrally arranged cartridge chamber at its rear end provided With lateral openings, a cartridge 1n said chamber adapted to discharge its explosion gases through said openings, and a fuse in the base of the projectile adjacent the cartridge chamber adapted'to be ignited 'by the flame issuing from said lateral open- 'for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

FREDERICK WILFRID scorr sroxrsQ 

